Abstract
Epiphany is a literary device bringing forth an experience of sudden wisdom or insight and is particularly applied to literature from the romantic era. However, epiphanies are also present within contemporary autobiographical patient stories (pathographies) expressing something that is difficult and perhaps otherwise left unspoken. Kristian Gidlund’s pathography I kroppen min. Resan mot livets slut och alltings början (2013) deals with the author’s experience of having severe cancer. Gidlund was a non-religious person but at the end of his life, his blogposts included epiphanies or visionary moments regarding his afterlife. In this article the author shows how the use of epiphanies can be a subtle means of expressing thoughts and feelings when facing severe illness. Knowing how to identify and interpret epiphanies in pathographies can improve the abilities of relatives and medical staff to communicate with patients about existential matters and emotional distress. KAKA I would like to thank Rachael Reynolds and Paul Farmer for their most conscientious proofreading, and Dr. Christopher Oscarson for the accurate translation of the quotes from Kristian Gidlund’s book.
I would like to thank Rachael Reynolds and Paul Farmer for their most conscientious proofreading, and Dr. Christopher Oscarson for the accurate translation of the quotes from Kristian Gidlund’s book.
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© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Obituaries
- Nachruf auf Heiko Uecker
- Nachruf auf Heinrich Beck
- Research Articles
- The Use of Alliteration in a Norwegian Medieval Law – just for Fun?
- Durch die Blume gesagt. Erotische Blumenmetaphorik in romantischer Lyrik: Stagnelius, Wergeland und Aarestrup
- Pathographies and Epiphanies: Communicating about Illness
- “That’s (not) it”. Inger Christensen’s Det as Litanic Verse
- Erotik des Reisens
- Introduktion til temaet ”Rejsens Erotik”
- Krise, kærlighed og katastrofe. Den knap så opbyggelige rejses erotik i Jan Sonnergaards roman Frysende våde vejbaner
- Paris’ hjerte Johannes V. Jensen og rejsens erotik
- Erotikk og reise i traumatisk erindring. Madame Nielsens Det højeste væsen mellom myte og politikk
- ”Jeg kunde for Længsel ej sove” Holger Drachmann og den erotiske rejse
- Reviews
- Anders Ehlers Dam u. Gry Hedin (Hrsg.):J.P. Jacobsen og kunsten
- Roland Scheel:Skandinavien und Byzanz. Bedingungen und Konsequenzen mittelalterlicher Kulturbeziehungen
- Christer Lindqvist:Untersuchungen zu den Gründungsdokumenten der färöischen Rechtschreibung. Ein Beitrag zur nordischen Schriftgeschichte
- Birgitte Sonne:Worldview of the Greenlanders
- Joel Olofsson:Förflyttning på svenska: Om produktivitet utifrån ett konstruktionsperspektiv
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Obituaries
- Nachruf auf Heiko Uecker
- Nachruf auf Heinrich Beck
- Research Articles
- The Use of Alliteration in a Norwegian Medieval Law – just for Fun?
- Durch die Blume gesagt. Erotische Blumenmetaphorik in romantischer Lyrik: Stagnelius, Wergeland und Aarestrup
- Pathographies and Epiphanies: Communicating about Illness
- “That’s (not) it”. Inger Christensen’s Det as Litanic Verse
- Erotik des Reisens
- Introduktion til temaet ”Rejsens Erotik”
- Krise, kærlighed og katastrofe. Den knap så opbyggelige rejses erotik i Jan Sonnergaards roman Frysende våde vejbaner
- Paris’ hjerte Johannes V. Jensen og rejsens erotik
- Erotikk og reise i traumatisk erindring. Madame Nielsens Det højeste væsen mellom myte og politikk
- ”Jeg kunde for Længsel ej sove” Holger Drachmann og den erotiske rejse
- Reviews
- Anders Ehlers Dam u. Gry Hedin (Hrsg.):J.P. Jacobsen og kunsten
- Roland Scheel:Skandinavien und Byzanz. Bedingungen und Konsequenzen mittelalterlicher Kulturbeziehungen
- Christer Lindqvist:Untersuchungen zu den Gründungsdokumenten der färöischen Rechtschreibung. Ein Beitrag zur nordischen Schriftgeschichte
- Birgitte Sonne:Worldview of the Greenlanders
- Joel Olofsson:Förflyttning på svenska: Om produktivitet utifrån ett konstruktionsperspektiv